Improvement in condensers for steam-engines



Nrrnn STATES ALEXANDER C. TWIN ING, OF NEV HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

` Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 36,183, dated August l2, 186?.

To all whom z't may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER C. TWIN- ING, o f the city of New Haven, county of New Haven',and State of Connecticut,have in vented a new and useful Improvement in Condensers for Steam-Engines; and I hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

Letfff be part of a working steam-cylinder, of which o o represent lthe slide valve, and a a a the exhaust port and pipe for the escape of the steam, which pipe expands into a steam-chest, n n n n. This steam-chest is separated perfectly from a Water-chest and its pipe w w w w by a partition, o 0 o o.' The unf der partition of this water-chest is m m m m. Both the above mentioned partitions are pieiced -by the small steam-pipes e e e e, Ste., n

of which there may be any desired number, and which admit the steam into the condenser hhhh; also,`the pipes e e e e, 85e., are made double, or with a space between them and the iuclosing-sheaths of each, to avoid communication of heat from the steam in e e c e to the Water in the chest surrounding the sheaths. This water enters by the water-pipe w w and fills the water-chest, flowing of course around the double steam-pipes, which are set upright between the partitions that form the vbottom and the top of that chest. .This water-chest communicates with the condenser beneath it through narrow orifices ZZ ZZ, circling around the sheaths of e e, abovev mentioned.

Now, in the Working of the steam-cylinder and the slide-valve o o, when the exhaust port and pipe a, a a is opened from the cylinder into the chest n n n n, steam rushes through the pipes e e e e, 4While at the same time the injection-water from the water-chest w w w enters in the same direction through the orifices surrounding the sheaths of e e e e. The steam condenses in the water, and thereby imparts tothe latter great velocity, it being nearly the average velocity found by dividing the sum of the momenta of the steam entering the condenser in a given time, taken directly down ward, and of the water entering and taken in like manner, divided by the Imass or weight of the condensation-water. The great rush thus produced toward the neck h h d of the condenser carries out the water and the air with it into, the atmosphere or into the lateraly and spirally curved channels pp, which rotate upon the pointed top of a supportingstandard, lo k, as a pivot. The upper neck, d d d, of this rotating apparatusjoins the neck of the condenser in a stufting-box, it' The pulley-wheeljj is a fixture upon that rotating apparatus, and may receive a band from some pulley-wheel of the engine or some part of the shaft to receive revolution or assist to giveit, as the ease may be. In order to facilitate the abduction of` air, there may be a small airpump Worked dry, which is represented byits entering pipe o o o leading to it from the condenser.

I describe the above more fullygin its operation, as follows: On starting the steam-engine you -blow steam through the steam-chest and condenser,and rotating apparatus,

if the latter is used, the neck-valve, hereinafter described, (not shown in thedrawingJ shutting out the air from returning. Next, openthe Coldwater pipe and allow the partial vacuum that will be created in the condenser to draw in a regulated current of'that liquid through the orifices l Z Z l, which guide y its jets directly or nearly downward. When the steam-piston has completed its stroke and the exhaust port and pipe a a a are opened to the steam-chest, the steam from the cylinder will rush through that chest and the pipes ee ee, and enveloping the water-jets and uniting by condensation with them the heated water and yet uncondensed steam, with any air that may be present, will be carried by the rush down through the neck d d d and its valve, hereinafter described, out into the atmosphere directly, or through the channels d d p of the rotating apparatus. Now, since by well-known pneumatic and hydraulic constructions a velocity of fty feet per second may be made to throw out the hot water against atmospheric pressure, even if the channels were fixed instead of rotating, much more will this exit take place with rotating channels operated by a band aroundjj, and with water having (as it will have) a velocity of over one hundred feet a second. To provide against inequalities'and prevent regurgitation in the outset, an ordinary'valve,ground tight and opening outward, may be introduced into the neck d d d at the parting of the channels where the pointed partition is shown in the drawing. This pointed partition may be the seat of a bonnet-valve sitting upon it when the valve opens.

It is obvious that inasmuch as the mechanical efficacy of one hundred feet velocity per second is four times the same of fifty feet the hot-water throw may even impart rotation and power to d tipp, which shall be transmittefby the band of jj to the steam-engine itse It is obvious, also, by the description itself that the water-chest w rw w w, instead of being terminated or situated above the body of the condenser may be continued down its sides nearly to the neck, so as to envelop it, and that the water of inj ection may spurt in through ine apertures piercing the sides of the condenser h h, and directed vertically downward, or nearly so; also, the steam-chest may be prolonged downward through the middle ofthe condenser, with a sheathing around it and a space between, as in the small steam-pipes e 9, and may deliver steam into the condenser downward through small pipes piercing the coating and sheathing of this prolonged steamchest and traversing the space between the sheathing and coating or sides of the chest in a vertical direction. These lastnamed small pipes will obviously be the equivalent of e e ee, above described, while also the sides of the steam-chest will be a prolongation or modication of o o o o, and m m'm m will be represented by the sides of the condenserhh h h, or

its equivalent, and the circular oriiieesZZZZ in like manner will be replaced by the fine inlast and their, pipes, V8vo., may be intercbangedv as to place. g

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination or use, in a steam-engine, of an exhaust-pipe or steam-chest and a cold-water pipe or water-chest, with a condenser arranged with suitable orices or pipes (one or more) between the condenser and the chests or pipes first named, to conduct the exhaust-steam and condensing-water separately but in close proximity into the condenser, substantially as and for the purpose described.

' 2. The employment of a rotating apparatus in combination with the condenser to deliver the water and air, and to be rotated wholly or in part by the rush of the water of condensation, or, by a pulley-wheel and band, substan- .tially as shown and described. 

